Newsletter August 2016

Thousands of people respond to the Police and Crime Plan
consultation

I received thousands of responses to my consultation to
inform the development of the new Police and Crime Plan
2016-21. The 'Your Priorities, Your Plan' consultation
involved an online and paper survey on policing and community
safety priorities, and also saw me spending time in each of the
districts in West Yorkshire consulting with local people, partners
and the police. Over 4000 people individually completed the survey
with many more giving their priorities in person and through social
media. Consultation with partners such as Councils, Voluntary
Sector and many other organisations is still on-going representing
thousands more, including West Yorkshire Police. The online and
paper survey element of the consultation closed for responses on
Friday 22 July. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone
that contributed to the consultation which has been one of the
biggest I've ever carried out. The new Plan will be launched in
autumn and will set the direction for policing and community safety
over the next five years.

Reassurance that hate
crime and hate incidents will be taken seriously

West Yorkshire Police and I held a meeting in Leeds to
support the LGBT community following recent local, national and
international events. The aim of the meeting was to
reassure the community that there is no place in West Yorkshire for
hatred and intolerance. The event was arranged in partnership by
West Yorkshire Police, myself, and Leeds LGB&T* Hub. The
meeting gave the opportunity for the LGBT community to talk about
what matters to them; Key issues included communication and
listening, consistency in response from the police and other
services and trust and confidence. I know that events both locally
and around the world have impacted on people feeling safe and it's
extremely important that we move quickly, in partnership, to
reassure our communities, but this is not just about what the
police can do, I want to see all partners working together to
support LGBT communities. I understand some people may be hesitant
but I encourage anyone affected by hate crime or hate incidents to
come forward and report it and know that if they do, every report
will be taken seriously, putting appropriate support in place for
any victims.

Calderdale flood visit following £40,000 donation

I visited areas in Calderdale affected by the Boxing Day
floods with Temporary Chief Constable (T/CC), Dee Collins.
The floods which devastated parts of Calderdale, Leeds and Bradford
on Boxing Day left an untold amount of damage across the areas
which affected thousands of local people. The visit followed a
donation of £40,000 (from the Property Act Fund) to West Yorkshire
flood victims from myself and the T/CC with the money being used to
support the most vulnerable victims in all three areas. The people
and organisations of these affected areas have shown extraordinary
resilience and courage in tackling the clean-up operation. I was
delighted that we are able to provide some money to help support
the most vulnerable people impacted by the floods, the effects of
which are very much still being felt and I hope this visit reminds
people of that. I have thanked West Yorkshire Police for leading
the initial co-ordination of the response to the flooding in West
Yorkshire through the local resilience multi-agency forum. The
response was a credit to them and the other emergency services
involved and particularly to our communities who rallied round
tremendously to help.

Celebrating the work
of Education Ossett Community Trust (EOCT)

I celebrated the work of EOCT at an end of year event
last month. The Trust is a registered charity with ten member
schools in the town of Ossett. They work with students
aged 3 - 19 to provide high quality additional educational
opportunities as well as offering staff networking and development
in order to improve teaching and learning in the town. EOCT held a
celebration event with over 200 students for families and guests to
come together to hear and watch some of the learning that has taken
place over the last year. EOCT received £2690 from my Safer
Communities Fund which is supporting a musical project aimed at
strengthening multicultural links and changing attitudes. The ten
EOCT schools will work with schools in Dewsbury and Wakefield in
order to learn about similarities and differences, to build
relationships between schools and communities and to share learning
with the community. The Safer Communities Fund grant will cover the
costs of workshops and the production of a music video which will
act as a launch for another music project. .

Dedicated Section 136
place of safety for children in Leeds

A new facility for vulnerable children who need urgent
mental health care has opened in Leeds. The children's
Section 136 suite or 'Place of Safety' at The Becklin Centre is for
children and young people under 18-years-old who are detained by
the police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. Young people
would come to the new suite to receive acute care and assessment in
a clinical environment, rather than be detained in police custody.
In the past, children detained under Section 136 had been assessed
alongside adults in one unit. I welcome this important step forward
in ensuring there is a more appropriate response to the needs of
under 18s. Our shared aspiration is that none of those who
experience a mental health crisis in this age group should be
detained in police custody. I will continue to work with partners
through the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Forum I set up last
year, to ensure consistency across the whole of West Yorkshire.

Further funding for
health and social care professionals in the Bradford Police Control
Room

Mental health nurses and social workers will continue
working in West Yorkshire Police's Bradford control room to support
vulnerable people after I agreed £90k of funding for the project,
50% of the total. The remainder will come from the NHS and
Council. The project is between Bradford District NHS Foundation
Trust, Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police. The cash means
the project will continue for a second year after the success of a
pilot that involved mental health staff supporting the police hub
taking calls from police officers dealing with vulnerable people.
Health and social care staff can provide immediate advice to
police, access clinical records, support and allocate Appropriate
Adults and provide training to officers around mental health
issues, ensuring those most vulnerable are signposted into support
services. I previously agreed funding to extend a similar pilot in
Leeds; and over the next 12 months I will be working with NHS and
local authority partners to make sure these innovative approaches
are applied consistently across West Yorkshire.

Safer Communities
Fund grant sees young people given choices

Pontefract Education Trust received £5000 from the Safer
Communities Fund and have used it to help fund their CHOICE,
Children Have Options Imagination Challenge & Experience,
project. The main focus of the project is to equip
children with the sound knowledge of how important positive
behaviour is and have a clear understanding of "Actions and
Consequences". Led by a multi-agency team of staff, children are
equipped with education which helps and supports positive
achievement. This is a fantastic project and I was pleased to be
able to provide some funding through my Safer Communities Fund.
.